Spreading the word of God: Hunter leads tent crusade
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“After you’re dead, it won’t do you any good to call on Jesus,” said Hunter during his sermon Tuesday night. “He’s your savior now, but at death he will be your judge. You can give me a lot of excuses for not being saved tonight, but they are all poor, lame excuses. If you’re not 100 percent sure you belong to God, I would not leave this tent tonight.”
A metal trough was filled with water and placed next to the tent, and about 20 baptisms took place during the five-day crusade which ended last night.
The tent was erected in a field on Myers Lane overlooking the bypass and Hunter was the featured speaker each night. The field is expected to be the future home to Cornerstone Baptist Church, which has outgrown its current location on Nashville Highway.
Cornerstone was one of nine area churches sponsoring the interdenominational tent crusade. Bringing together those congregations was one of the primary goals of organizers.
“It’s great to see so many different denominations all coming together for one purpose, to see people saved,” said volunteer Phillip Rowland. “Things like drugs and teen pregnancy are running rampant in Warren County. We need to get our spiritual base back. We need to get back to the Bible.”
Hunter preached that becoming a Christian is only part of the battle. He said Christian values must be embraced and practiced throughout life.
“I see Sheriff Jackie Matheny is in attendance tonight,” said Hunter. “And I’m sure he’ll tell you he arrests as many people who claim to be Christians as those who don’t.”
When showers didn’t dampen attendance, the crusade was well received.
“There are people who will come to a tent who would never come to a church and I don’t really know why,” said Braxton Hunter, who is Harold’s son and also the preacher at Cornerstone Baptist. “We had 700 or 800 here Sunday night and there’s probably that many here tonight,” he said Tuesday.